Early Childhood Education Level 1
Alexandra K. Swinimer 2017-2018
Blocks 1,2,5 & 6
571.434.3200 Classroom 114
Potomac Falls High School 1 Credit Hour
COURSE DESCRIPTION: In this course, students work hands on in Potomac Falls High School’s Preschool in which 20 preschoolers (ages 3-5) attend class onsite from October through May. Students will plan and execute age appropriate lessons and activities throughout the year. When preschool is not in session, students will spend instructional time learning the skills necessary to work with preschool students and run a preschool program.
PREREQUISITES/COREQUISITES: Students must be registered as grades 10 through 12 at Potomac Falls High School. Proof of Tuberculosis (TB) Testing is required. Students are responsible for getting TB testing prior to the start of the school year. Proof of negative TB Screening/Testing must be submitted to Ms. Swinimer by Friday, September 15, 2017. The Loudoun County Health Department provides tuberculosis screenings only, at a cost of $14.83 per TB risk assessment.There is an additional charge of $7.00 if a TB test is placed as a result of the findings of the assessment.A chest X-ray may also be required to rule out tuberculosis, which is available at a separate charge.Patients are seen for TB screenings on a walk-in basis each Tuesday afternoon from 1:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
The Clinic is located at:
45201 Research Place
Suite 120
Ashburn, VA 20147
OBJECTIVES: As a result of this course, you will be able to:
· Promote the physical, cognitive, language, social, and emotional development in early childhood.
· Create a curriculum responsive to participants’ needs.
· Promote positive and productive relationships with families.
· Maintain careers and professionalism.
REQUIRED TEXTS AND RESOURCES:
· Karen Stephens, The Child Care Professional, 1999
· Judy Herr, Working with Young Children, 2004
ATTENDANCE AND PUNCTUALITY:
You will be expected to make up any missed work during class instruction days
· Check GOOGLE CLASSROOM for missed work
o It is your responsibility to check for missed work, and communicate with Ms. Swinimer about any assistance/resources you need to complete work.
o You will have one week (the following Thursday/Friday) to turn in any missing work from the previous missed instructional day, at which point the grade will become a “0” in Phoenix and will require an after school conference with Ms. Swinimer in order for credit to be earned.
Teaching Days should only be missed for a true EMERGENCY
· DO NOT schedule any appointments during your assigned teaching day
· You must call or email me at school to let me know of your absence BEFORE 9:00 AM
· You must also contact your teaching team to let them know you will be absent
· If you contact Ms. Swinimer and your team prior to your class period, and your team can carry out the lesson without you, you will not be penalized but will be required to complete an extensive makeup assignment which can be found on Google Classroom and will be due one week from the date of your teaching day.
Preschool Day Absences when you are NOT teaching
· You must call or email me at school to let me know of your absence BEFORE 9:00 AM
· As long as you contact me, when you return to class you will fill out a “Substitute” sheet (if you know in advance you will be missing, you can fill this out in advance) once you have filled this sheet out you will have TWO WEEKS from the date of your absence to complete the “I Missed a Day of Preschool” make-up assignment and email it to Ms. Swinimer. These assignments WILL NOT be accepted late, and will be entered as zero’s after the one-week mark.
COMMUNICATION: The best way to contact me is via my LCPS email () we will also use a Class Remind.com account and you can message me through text on this account. I check my email frequently throughout the day and do my best to respond to emails within 24 hours of receiving them.
CELL PHONES, COMPUTERS, AND OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICES: As of the 2016-2017 school year, Potomac Falls High School is a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) School. Technology is a wonderful asset to our instructional practices, and I plan to integrate technology frequently throughout the school year. We will discuss the limitations of cell phone use during Preschool Lab time and acceptable use based on Preschool Parents requests as we get closer to the start of preschool. In general, I ask that students keep cell phones away during group instruction and only use personal devices when working independently. During preschool lab it is generally not appropriate to have a personal device in use, but we will discuss the more specific intricacies of this policy during our lessons on professionalism and technology in the 21st Century Classroom.
FOOD AND DRINK: On instructional days (High school side) food and drink is acceptable as long as students are considerate and clean up after themselves. Only water can be brought to the preschool side of the classroom, no other outside food or drink is acceptable on preschool days.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Deadlines for all assignments are listed in Phoenix and on Google Classroom as they are assigned.
Daily Preschool Lab Grade 20 points
Summative Assignment for each day you are in preschool lab. Number of grades will vary per quarter.
Preschool Teaching Grade 70 points
Summative Assignment for teaching lesson/implementation of lesson plan.
Written Lesson Plan Grade 32 points
Summative Assignment for written lesson plan.
Children’s Book Brainstorm 50 points
Summative Assignment first part of four towards writing children’s book for preschooler (1Q)
Children’s Book Rough Draft 100 points
Summative Assignment second part of four towards writing children’s book for preschooler (2Q)
Children’s Book Final Pages 100 points
Summative Assignment third part of four towards writing children’s book for preschooler (3q)
Children’s Book Final 75 points
Summative Assignment fourth part of four towards writing children’s book for preschooler (4q)
These are only some of the major assignments that will be covered during the school year. Various other assignments will be assigned and covered during class time. Most other assignments will not require out of class time as long as students use class time effectively and efficiently. The above assignments may occasionally require students to take work home or come to Ms. Swinimer for CORE. Students should pre-arrange with Ms. Swinimer if they need to work in the classroom during their CORE block.
GRADING: All summative assignments are weighted 100%
ASSIGNMENT SUBMISSION: Assignments should be submitted via Google Classroom unless otherwise noted on the assignment description.
LATE WORK: Work not completed and turned in by the assigned date is considered late. Because most assignments will be submitted via Google Classroom, absence from school is not an excuse for not submitting an assignment on time. For assignments that are to submitted by hand, if a student is absent on the date the work is due, the assignment is due the first day the student returns to school. Completed late work will only receive partial credit (90% of the assignment total for the first 10 days, 50% after 10 days. No work will be accepted the final 5 days of the quarter.) INCOMPLETE LATE WORK will not be graded and will result in a zero for the assignment.
RESUBMISSIONS: Student’s will have the opportunity to re-submit any SUMMATIVE assignment BESIDES preschool lab and teaching grades for resubmission, as many times as they prefer until the last week of the quarter. No re-submissions will be accepted the final week of the quarter. For assignments that are due the final week of the quarter, one re-submission opportunity will be given with a two-week window the following quarter. In order to request a re-submission, students must fill out a re-submission request and conference with Ms. Swinimer to identify what work should be done to appropriately receive greater mastery of material.
PLAGIARISM/ACADEMIC OFFENSES: As members of the Potomac Falls High School community, we are responsible for upholding and contributing to an atmosphere of respect, truthfulness, and fairness. We are dedicated to a community founded on these principles. The Honor Code serves as a commitment to intellectual honesty. Please visit http://www.loudoun.k12.va.us/Domain/3627 for a full outline of the PFHS community commitment to academic honesty, and expectations for this class. For all summative assignments students will be expected to sign the PFHS Honor Code which states “On my Honor, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this _____ (test, quiz, assignment, lab, etc).”
OTHER: Early Childhood Education is a unique class in that you spend over 80% of your classroom time in a lab based setting. It is important to recognize that the number one factor to your success in this program is your attendance and attentiveness. You will be graded on both your attendance and interaction with the children as part of your Workplace Readiness Skills grade which is a core competency component of the Career and Technical Education / Family & Consumer Sciences Education Program. Your commitment to working with children is critical to both your success and the success of the preschool children who walk through our door each day.
Swinimer, 8285-ECE 1 2017 - 2018 Syllabus, Page 3 of 4